When the next day dawned, Luke Wade, stepped out of Wade"s mansion to visit the Holy Church. It was the first time after the G.o.ddess" grand summoning that the prophet left the confines of his home. And it was rumored that it was to visit the Pope.The piece of news immediately piqued the interest of many people.
n.o.body knows what he did there. But after the talk, instead of going back to his family"s mansion in the capital, he headed East, where the Wade Dukedom was. Immediately, questions, guesses, and conspiracies spread around.
Why did he vanish from people"s sight for so long? And according to rumors, he never once spoke with the Saintess except on the day she was summoned.
Could there be something going on in the Holy Church and that the messenger of the G.o.ddess was not getting along with the Saintess?
While it was normal for curious citizens to gossip, it was still unexpected how the prophet could garner that much interest.
The other person mentioned in the rumors looked for the Pope to inquire about what he and Luke Wade talked about.
"The Prophet? Oh... He only informed me that he will be going to his family"s territory. He knows I will definitely provide him a few platoons of knights and clergies, so I reckon that is his goal."
The two leading figures of the Holy Church were strolling in one of the gardens of the place. Two long rows of white-robed priests followed behind them silently, ready to do their bidding or request at any given time. Also, a few holy knights were trailing behind them. Even though they were at their sacred grounds, there was no telling when an accident could suddenly happen. There was no way the people of the Church could be careless about their leaders" safety.
Su Luxi watched as a bluebird descended onto the arm of a young blonde holy knight. The person pulled out a small rolled-up paper attached to the bird"s leg and then bowed to her and the Pope. He reported, "Excuse me for interrupting. The captain of the seventh squad said that the convoy has temporarily stopped at the second city."
"They stopped? It"s only 2 in the afternoon. Did the Prophet encountered a problem along the way?" The old man creased his forehead, reaching out to the piece of paper.
"It"s not like that, Your Holiness," hurriedly replied the knight, obediently letting the Church"s ultimate boss s.n.a.t.c.h the scroll from him. Even though the old man was already reading the contents of the message, he still added. "His Excellency purposely stopped to hand out food and blankets to the commoners in that city. The letter states that he saw a mother and son pair and several beggars begging in a plaza which aroused his pity."
The Pope nodded. "It seems there is really a reason why he"s the closest to our G.o.ddess apart from me and the Saintess. Such a wonderful heart. If my guess is correct, the trip this time is to contribute to the ma.s.ses and give help to the needy and poor. The place he wanted to start his journey is naturally his family"s fief."
If the subject of their spying heard their conversation, he would have definitely laughed in glee. Who wouldn"t like being praised and mistaken for a saintly person? For mundane people like Jiang Li, it would be a good laughing material.
"That man..." Holding her breath, the girl listening to them praising the prophet fell into a daze and reminisced her few meetings with the white-haired guy.
With her sight glued to the small white status of one of the legendary Popes, the Saintess asked softly, "... May I know if he mentioned anything else to Your Holiness?"
Su Luxi tried her hardest to conceal the worry in her tone. But deep inside, she was worried whether that man received a real oracle contrary to what she told the Pope.
The sudden withdrawal of the prophet from the ma.s.ses" eyes before and his lack of contact with the palace and church made her feel nervous. Whenever that person"s name or t.i.tle was mentioned, she would involuntary flinch.
Through the rumors, she learned that white-haired young man bound in his wheelchair could really communicate with the G.o.ddess. He was unlike her who only had one encounter with Her.
When she got her ability to understand the local language, a holy woman whose face she could not see appeared in her dreams, but this person did not speak to her. She only remembered Her bathing her in a warm glow before disappearing. That"s it. The meeting only happened in a dream, and this did not even last for a full minute.
In other words, although she was the Saintess, she actually never heard a thing from the G.o.ddess. She also didn"t really have any extraordinary trait apart from having holy magic a bit stronger than the Pope.
However, the prophet was different. Even though he was ill, he was a famed genius who could predict the big calamities and events that would befall not only to the Empire but the whole continent. Right now, it was easy to see that the man both had the abilities and the G.o.ddess" blessings. His existence"s importance might even be greater than hers.
The Saintess didn"t know the truth about Luke Wade"s power of foresight so she was so anxious as she waited for the white-robed old man"s reply. Her wrinkled handkerchief in her hand proved how nervous she was feeling.
The Pope replied in an amicable tone, "What else did we discuss?"
"Well, he actually didn"t say anything apart from that."
Soft laughter rang after. The eyes of the old man went up, following the bird which flew back to the skies. He thought for a moment before he continued, "We didn"t talk much. I was busy with the Church"s affair, while he was in a hurry for the trip. When he came to me this morning, I asked him if he would be back before the coronation. He said, yes. Then I reminded him, his post is very important so he must be present by then."
The coronation required all people with t.i.tles and important posts in the empire to attend. And thus, those from the countryside were already preparing gifts and setting off for the capital. If no accident happened midway, Luke Wade would be back at least a week before the ceremony.
"I see. Thanks."
The old man pondered for a bit then added, "Maybe if he is back at least three days before that day, you should consider deepening your bonds with him, or at least leave more impression. Before, his health is not good. But since he could now go on a trip, he should be fine now. He"s not exclusively a church person. However, he is still the messenger of the G.o.ddess. His experience should be useful to you. Even if it not, a good relations.h.i.+p with a fellow servant of the G.o.ddess would not hurt."
"Okay..." Su Luxi had no problem with that suggestion so she readily nodded. As for whether the other party would be willing to talk with her, that was a problem for another day. For now, there was one more thing bothering her.
"Your Holiness..." head bowed, the girl then asked. "Do you think the prophet is aware... of the plan?"
Knowing she was referring to the movements the church was doing for the sake of pus.h.i.+ng the saintess up the Empress" throne, the Pope smiled.
"Why? His Excellency is aware, of course. The reason my heart is at ease is that he didn"t contradict your oracle, Your Highness. This only means it is really the will of the G.o.ddess for you to support His Highness the crown prince in leading Her people to something greater and more purposeful."
"I see."
For a long while, the black-haired girl couldn"t find any more words to say.
Was she relieved that her lies were not exposed? Of course. The only person who could refute her was on her side, thankfully. But she didn"t know why. Even though she managed to calm her breathing, the unusual and irritating feeling in her chest didn"t completely go away. She found that it was still there, making her on edge and unable to completely sigh in relief.